Discovering a hidden part of Phuket’s history
Phraya Rassada, the wily governor who got tin companies to build roads and government offices. This statue is at the top of Rang Hill.
Search the web for information on historical buildings in Phuket and you’ll get stacks of hits for the old downtown area of Phuket Town, with its charming Sino-Portuguese shop-houses etc etc etc. Fair enough – Thalang Rd is definitely worth a visit. But try to find anything about the old government quarter of the town and you’ll probably draw a blank. Let’s try to redress the balance a little.
Roughly 100 years ago, long before tourism, the tin boom was reaching its height in Phuket. The island was pockmarked with huge holes as mechanisation raised mine production to new heights. The boom was a huge bonus for the island’s government, headed by Governor Kosimbee na Ranong or, to give him his royal title, Phraya Rassadanupradit Mahitsaraphakdi.
Lord Rassada, as Governor of every community down the west peninsular coast from Ranong to Satun, had grander visions than most when it came to tin. He invited major international mining companies in, and then made sure they paid in full, though not necessarily in cash.
One way they paid for their mining concessions was through building infrastructure in the government quarter on the northeast side of the town. Many klongs (canals) and roads were built or improved this way, along with many of the province’s government buildings, which are still in use today.
The largest building in this area is the Sala Klang, or Provincial Hall. Designed by an Italian architect, it took six years to build – from 1907 to 1913.
Delicate, airy galleries surround the Provincial Hall.
It was Thailand’s first reinforced concrete building, though you would never guess this from looking at it. The open galleries all around it and the fretwork decorations everywhere give the building a delicate, airy feeling that absolutely does not say “concrete”. When built, the Provincial Hall had 99 doors but no windows, allowing breezes free play and keeping staff cool. (It’s since been fitted with air-conditioning and windows. A pity.)
Round the exterior walls are hung dozens of photographs of Phuket in the past – stark contrasts with the Phuket of today.
The Governor's Mansion is surprisingly modest in scale.
The Governor’s Mansion, one street over, dates from the same era. Set in spacious grounds, it echoes the Sino-Portuguese architecture seen in many streets in old Phuket City. The building is surprisingly modest in scale, though one imagines it is still daunting for any modern governor to lay down his head in the same bedroom where Lord Rassada slept. Or perhaps it’s inspiring. Next door is the yet more modest but equally charming residence of the Provincial Deputy Governor, or Palad.
Across Damrong Rd from the Provincial Hall is the Office of Disaster Prevention & Mitigation. However, the ODPM is a relatively recent arrival in this building, which was originally the all-important Tin Mines Department, keeping an eye on the industry and ensuring that King Rama V and the local government received their fair share of the wealth flowing from the mines.
The old law court now functions as offices for the judiciary.
Diagonally across from the Provincial Hall, at the foot of To Sae Hill is the original Provincial Court, gleaming white and set in well ordered gardens. It is still used for offices of the legal establishment, though legal cases are now heard in the much larger modern court house up the hill behind it.
Those found guilty in the court were generally shipped no more than 500 meters down the road to the Provincial Prison. The gaol is still in use today, a century after it was built.
A wander around the nearby streets is always pleasant in good weather. This is all government land, untouched by development, so most of the streets are shaded by huge trees planted at the time the Provincial Hall was built. There are other rewards: The old Red Cross Building, for example, also harks back to the same graceful architectural era, when tourism was unknown and Patong was a tiny fishing community.
